Transcendent Wings
by A Raven's Call
Summary: Only having Lin in her life gave Jinora the wings to transcend all expectations. She wishes, sometmes, that Lin was her mother because Lin is her mother in all but name. Slight Makorra, Jolin, and Pemzin. Linzen is extremely obvious. Rated T for eventual character death and violence. Warning: lots and lots of headcannons...
1. Childhood

**Fandom:** Avatar: Legend of Korra

**Disclaimer:** Jinora, Korra, Mako, Lin, Tenzin, Pema, and Bolin all belong to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Well, _everybody_ here belongs to them, except for Jet Beifong, who is mine.

**Story** **Title: **Transcendent Wings

**Chapter Title: **Childhood

**Notes: **This fanfic is slightly AU and sometimes a bit OOC, but it's slightly acceptable considering it watches Jinora growing up and is extremely biased by her. This story is set in a universe where the Equalists were taken down in Episode 6 and never escalated to anything beyond that and Lin was still in contact with the family during the time. I heartlessly don't mention the Equalists at all because that would be a bit too complicated. Also, Lin and Tenzin have a nineteen-year-old son, who was born seven months after the breakup nineteen years ago.

**Chapter Summary: **Jinora's interactions with Lin as she's growing up.

**Chapter Quote: **"You seemed in a terrible rush to get away. I've never seen our esteemed Chief of Police make such a hasty retreat."

Please enjoy!

* * *

_**Childhood**_

**Dinner**

There are things that Jinora won't question, and she tries her best to not meddle in her parents' affairs like a mature, obedient child. But whenever Pema tries to "forget" to ask Lin to dinner on the weekends, Jinora is always the first to obnoxiously pipe and inquire, "Is Lin going to come today?"

**Roses:**

Lin is like a rose to Jinora: breathtakingly beautiful and even more deadly. Although Lin uses metal cables in place of thorns, Jinora is sure that this rose will always be there to ensure Republic City and Tenzin's family is safe.

Jinora ignores the fact that roses eventually fade away.

**Fairy Tales**

Whenever Lin is over babysitting Meelo, Ikki, and Jinora, she, without fail, always tells them a bedtime story and tucks them in good night. One night, Meelo asks her if the fairy tales she recounts are true, if the prince always gets together with the princess and what not.

Jinora can hear the slightest pause before Lin answers quickly, almost too quickly. "Of course they're true dear," she says as she plants a gentle kiss to Meelo's temple. "Would your Auntie ever tell you a lie?"

"No!" Meelo and Ikki squeal with laughter. Soon Jinora's two younger siblings are rolling on top of the normally stoic police chief, giggling their heads off as they pin Lin onto the bed. But the normally enthusiastic Jinora just can't join in this once.

It's the first time Lin ever tells the three of them a lie. In Jinora's eyes, Lin is the princess, forever waiting for her prince to turn around and come back to her. Jinora knows that Lin's lying because if fairy tales were true, Jinora would be Lin's daughter, not Pema's.

**Perfection**

Lin Beifong wasn't the hopeless romantic or the irritatingly motherly type: to Jinora, she is a completely different type of woman. She is strong, unyielding, and yet, she has her moments where she knows how to bend and compromise better than Tenzin ever did. Auntie Lin is the embodiment of perfection: intelligence, power, and compassion rolled together to create the chief of police, a waterfall of compassion and capability. Jinora wishes that she was an earthbender, just like Lin, in order to emulate the woman she holds in such high esteem.

But no. Jinora has to be as flighty as the air she bends, forever wishing and wanting but never receiving.

It's only when Lin tells her that she is perfect that Jinora feels so.

**Bento**

Once, Jinora and her other siblings had to stay over at Lin's because their parents and the rest of the acolytes had to perform some covert ceremony for a week. None of them really expected Lin to even make them a bento; they were just grateful that Lin was there ushering them into school. But every day, tucked in each of their bags was an adorable bento that made them the envy of their entire classmates for the entire week.

Not even Ikki was brave enough to ask Lin how she made it. But all three of them knew that she somehow managed to find the time to do it.

**Hands**

Lin's hands are gigantic, worn with calluses, compared to Jinora's flimsy, weak ones. But when Jinora voices her concern, Lin merely laughs and presses their palms together. "See how they're still the same?"

**Music**

Jinora isn't sure when or where or how she found the old piano in the back storage room, but she is sure that _she _was the first one to find it. When she starts banging on it in the middle of the night, Jinora is surprised to find her father and Lin standing in the doorway, exchanging glances. Tenzin gestures for Lin to join Jinora at the bench, to which Lin reluctantly proceeds to do.

"Teach her how to play," Tenzin suggests, softly, quietly, as he touches Lin's shoulder. "For old time's sake."

Lin just shakes her head sadly and brushes him off. However, she still takes Jinora's small hands in hers and shows Jinora how to bring the piano to life.

Apparently, Jinora discovers, music was the second love of Lin's life, and Jinora brought it back from its nineteen-year slumber.

**Holding Back**

A couple of girls at school gossip about how Lin is being such a bitchy ex to Tenzin. Every. Single. Day. Lin is the only reason why the entire group isn't air bent into kingdom come. She already warned Jinora that if she got called to the headmaster's office one more time because of some girl's mindless chatter, Lin would personally incarcerate Jinora for life.

**Arguments**

"Why do you always spend time with Lin?" her mother demands one day, one hand carrying Rohan while the other is at her hip.

Jinora shrugs, scuffing her shoes on the ground. She refuses to return her mother's heated glare.

_Maybe it's because she understands me. Maybe it's because she's the one who will hold me close and wipe away my tears. Maybe it's because she'll be a better mother than you'll ever be._

Her father bails Jinora out that day.

"Pema," he croons evenly, "there should be no issue. Jinora just likes Lin's company. I, for one, was always found at Toph's house when I was younger."

_Yeah, you were always at Toph's house,_ Jinora thinks ruefully. _That was only because Lin was there._

**Tea**

"You drink the same tea as my father," Jinora comments airily, tracing patterns on Lin's wooden table. "Why is that?"

She hears Lin's normally even breaths hitch in the police chief's throat. Jinora glances up, noticing how Lin bites her bottom lip so it begins to bleed. Her striking green eyes reflect some inner whirlpool of conflict before Jinora's idol decides on the most neutral response.

"We just…agree on tea, that's all," Lin finally answers. "Always have, always will."

Jinora knows there's something more to that, but she won't pry. She loves Lin too much to challenge her.

If it was Pema, however, Jinora may have had a few choice words for her.

**Lies**

Lin is a very good liar, even when she doesn't want to be. Jinora can never differentiate the truth from fantasy anymore because the white lies that Lin weaves into the web are on the border of truth. And Jinora always forgives her for it.

**Wounds**

When Lin romps into the air temple, fresh from a mission, and says, "I'm fine" one weekend, Jinora and the rest immediately believe her.

It's only when Tenzin that takes her hand after dinner and pulls her into a private room that Jinora can smell the familiar metallic tang of blood in the air.

Lin technically _is_ fine, spiritually; hanging out with Tenzin and the family always makes her smiles a bit less darker than usual. But physically… Jinora shudders as she recalls the blood seeping from Lin's wounds underneath that armor.

Physically, Lin is broken.

**Kiss**

It's during a Council Meeting that Tarrlok "accidentally" bumps into Lin so her lips accidentally collide with Tenzin's. The two of them immediately break away, faces flushed to the roots of their hair, stammering apologies to each other. Lin is uncharacteristically looking unsure of herself, like a schoolchild caught red handed. Meanwhile, Tenzin's face is between embarrassed and almost…elated.

Jinora amuses herself by watching Pema storm out of the room and Tarrlok's immediate retribution by the two of them. She and Korra share a quiet chuckle in the back of the Council Room, talking about it for days on end.

The consequences of it? Pema doesn't talk to Tenzin for over a week while Tarrlok ends up in the hospital for five days after Lin and Tenzin are finished with him.

**Smile**

Lin doesn't smile often in the Police Headquarters. Ever. However, when she's around Ikki, Meelo, and Jinora, she is unrecognizable: too cheerful and too playful to be the Chief of Police. Jinora likes to pretend the grins Lin sends her way are special, different from the one the others receive.

When Jinora asks why one day, Lin ruffles her brown hair affectionately with that same affectionate smile.

"You're like the daughter I've never had," Lin chuckles.

**Compare**

Lin was everything Pema was not. While Pema was soft spoken, Lin knows how to be loud and assertive. Where Pema's words have soft curves, Lin's have jagged, angular edges with a layer of control. Lin was dependent on no one and no how; Pema meanwhile…. Jinora shudders. She has no intention of ever growing up like her mother.

Whenever the two of them are standing beside each other, Jinora cannot help but compare the two and always think that Lin is better.

**Love**

"Do you love Lin in the same way you do mom?" Jinora snaps at Tenzin.

Her father's eyes widen, soft grey eyes closing for a brief second before opening again. "No."

"No?" Jinora feels her heart breaking as she hears the familiar stomps of Lin approaching the temple.

Tenzin's serious eyes meet hers, his hand reaching for Jinora's, his thumb running against hers.

"No. I loved her much more."

**Earth**

Pema and many others believe Lin and Tenzin's relationship is volatile, mercurial, and full of ups and downs and sideways. Jinora _knows_ that Lin and Tenzin's relationship is like earth herself: sometimes changing but the fundamentals remained the same, passionate, violent, and gentle all at the same time. That part never changes, just like the earth, because the earth, no matter what form it's in, is always there.

**Air**

Jinora has her quirks, her smiles and her actions as free and unrestrained as the air itself. But while an airbender, Jinora just needs Lin in her life in order to bend. The air and earth might be opposites, but Lin tethers Jinora to the ground and makes sure the little airbender doesn't fly away.

**Door**

Jinora's heart hurts every time Lin gets kicked out of the house by Pema whenever her mother feels Lin has stepped too much on her turf. It's only after all three children threaten to follow Lin's suit that Pema never dares to do it again.

**Snow**

Meelo and Ikki shriek when snow begins to fall in the wintertime, dragging Lin into the yard to play in the precipitation. Jinora follows at a more mature pace, air bending a group of snowmen that resembles their montage family. Korra, Bolin, Asami, and Mako are all piled on top of each other, all of their smiles over a mile long. But what Jinora wants Lin to notice is the part where Tenzin, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Lin and Pema. The snow Jinora has her arms wrapped around the snow Lin's neck, her eyes gazing up adoringly at the snow police chief.

When Lin does get the chance to see the snow family, she stops playing with Meelo and Ikki and turns to crush Jinora in a heartwarming hug. Pressing her full lips to Jinora's forehead, Jinora, looking up at Lin's face decorated in snowflakes, realizes that there is more than one kind of 'snow angel.'

**Words**

Rohan's first word is "Lin," much to Tenzin and Pema's surprise. They blame Meelo recounting the time where Lin launched herself off Oogi to buy them time to escape, but in reality, it is Jinora's fault. She had been whispering stories about Lin and her achievements ever since she had been charged with taking Rohan to bed.

To no one's surprise, baby Rohan's favorite person is Lin.

**Rush**

Pema bustles about in the kitchen, forcing Lin to aid her whenever Lin's rudimentary culinary skills. Lin doesn't say anything, but the moment Pema no longer requires her, Lin slips out of the backdoor and collapses on a bench in the garden. Jinora's father joins her, settling himself comfortably beside Lin.

"You seemed in a terrible rush to get away," Tenzin chuckles, placing a fallen flower in Lin's hair. "I've never seen our esteemed chief of police make such a hasty retreat."

Lin growls at him, lips curling back into a snarl, but Tenzin just keeps laughing.

**Step-brother**

One day, a handsome nineteen year old arrives at the steps of the Air Temple, politely inquiring to Jinora if he could speak to Tenzin.

"I'm Jet Beifong. I'm Lin's son," he explains in a collected voice. _I'm Tenzin's son._

"Lin never mentioned you," Jinora begins, eyes narrowing as she peers at him more closely. He is Tenzin and Lin's son, Jinora admits. Jet has Lin's jade eyes but Aang's stately face with beautiful ebony tresses.

"Jinora, right?" the nineteen year old inquires, extending a hand. "My mother always mentions you."

"She never mentions you," Jinora replies tersely, trying to quell the feelings rising up from her stomach. On the outside, Jinora is calm, but inside, Jinora's heart beats at the news. Begrudgingly, she takes Jet's rough hand, shaking it firmly. For some reason, they remind him of Lin's, minus the tenderness.

"You're kind of down to earth for an airbender," Jet chuckles, narrowing his eyes, smile widening.

"And you're kind of flighty for an earthbender," Jinora replies, raising an eyebrow, as her hackles begin to rise.

The two of them are prepared to go at it, but they are stopped by a distance shout. Jet and Jinora turn to see Lin making her way up from the docks, waving at them with a brilliant grin breaking out on her stoic face. Lin sweeps the two of them into her arms, gripping them tightly.

The argument is forgotten in an instant.

"Come on mom," Jet complains with a wry grin, wrapping an arm around Lin. "Get off!"

Jinora also returns the hug, wondering if this is what having Lin as a mother would be like.

She could get used to this.

**Sharing**

Jet, for all his sardonic remarks about his mother, is incredibly protective of his mother and hates sharing her with _anyone._ Jinora, meanwhile, loathes Lin's attention diverging from her. The two of them both don't like each other and aren't afraid to show it. After silently spending a good week and a half "socializing" in Jinora's room just so they could argue quietly about who deserves Lin more, Lin finally has enough. Storming in, Lin orders them to knock off fighting about "who knows what" and make up. They both wish that they didn't have to split Lin, but after a death-glare from her makes them realize that they might just have to.

**Leverage**

Jinora feels Lin's power emanating in the streets, the wind whipping around her, metal armor singing with every step. Though Lin might only be a child of earth, Jinora thinks that she has much more influence over the other elements than she might think.

Her suspicions are confirmed when a falling baby somehow drifts easily into Lin's arms before Lin even has time to shoot out metal cables.

**Adolescence**

Lin describes her adolescence as "challenging" with so many expectations and legacies to uphold. She mentions that she hopes Jinora's will be full of laughter, fun, and tight knit friendships.

Jinora never tells her that her entire life had those three things ever since Lin waltzed into it.

**School**

Jinora loathes school- not because she doesn't like the classes, but because every hour in school is just another hour away from Lin.

**Changes**

The police force has gone massive changes the past few months. It's now accepting nonbenders, waterbenders, firebenders, and airbenders in addition to the metalbenders. Lin is looking more harried than ever as more and more people begin to report to her, barely able to fit dinner with Tenzin on the weekends.

But she always manages to, Jinora notes with a smile. And that always means the world because it shows how even with all the changes, Lin will always remain the same.

**Forever**

Jinora nearly walks in on Tenzin and Lin drinking some sake at the kitchen table, but instead of bursting in and ruining the moment, she leans her ear to the door, straining to listen for every hushed whisper.

"Did you mean forever?" Lin murmurs, lowering her face to look at the table. "When you said, 'Baby, you're my forever girl'?"

Tenzin throws his head back, letting every drop of alcohol roll on his tongue. He pulls Lin close, lips nearly touching. His raspy voice responds gently, "Of course I meant forever, Lin."

With that, he closes the distance between them to place a small, chaste kiss on Lin's lips.

Jinora notices forever in every pointed glance, every pained smile, and every word exchanged between the two. She doesn't know how they ever "fell out of love" because, in her eyes, Jinora thinks that those two are the most in love people she'll ever meet.

Everyone knows that both of them are meant to love each other forever; the world just hasn't realized it yet.

**Hair**

Lin's hair is grey, but not because of the stress of being the Police Chief. In reality, she put some sort of powder in it to make it appear grey for some undercover duty, and between work and family, Lin really hasn't had the time to wash it out.

But one day, she manages to find the time during a gala, revealing her beautiful tresses to all. In a black silk dress, Lin's demeanor is out of character as she walks around making light talk with people. She almost seems…nervous and diffident, as if unsure of herself in such feminine, seductive garb. She looks younger than her fifty years, her appearances screaming Pema's thirty-five or something.

Many people always give her svelte figure a second double take, peer over their shoulders, and practically beg her to dance before they realize who they're talking to and quickly bustle away. Only a few brave ones dare to make more than small talk with her, flirting shamelessly only to be eventually driven away.

To Jinora's immense relief, Tenzin takes Lin by the hand and leads her away from the clamoring crowd to the dance floor. No one dares to disturb Lin after that.

"The Chief's fifty, right?" Mako enquires to Korra, wrapping an arm around her.

"Yeah," Korra whispers, snuggling closer to Mako. "And still saving the world with seventeen year olds."

"Too bad," a stranger comments. "But if the figure underneath that dress is saying anything… I swear, fifty or not, I'd still tap that."

Jinora's death glare is enough to send the man scurrying.

After that incident, Lin always puts powder in her hair just to avoid that situation. Pema is relieved, and Jinora is partly disappointed, mainly because Lin in that state proved a point to the world: women could be capable, strong, and intelligent while being beautiful at the same time.

**Lessons**

"How did you get your scars?" Meelo demands at bedtime.

Lin tucks him under the blankets, brushing her nose with his. "It was meant to teach me a lesson."

"Of what?" Jinora interjects, pulling herself closer to the two of them. "What lesson did you need to learn?"

Lin falls silent, closing her eyes wearily, and wrapping an arm around Jinora. Jinora can smell the faint whiff of Lin's perfume, the scent of plum blossoms lingering on Lin's armor, light but intoxicating.

"A lesson that, even when a person says they'll always love you, sometimes forever can't happen."

**Conception**

"So how did you guys make Jet?" Korra demands, lips curling into a predatory smirk. "Huh? Miss Chief of Police? Mr. Heartbreaker?"

Lin's lips pursue, immediately wiping the smug smile off Korra's face. "I found out I was pregnant after Tenzin had broken up with me."

"Oh." Korra blushes, looking at the table, the ceiling, the floor, and anywhere the young avatar can't see Lin.

"And my mother didn't want to _interfere_ with Tenzin's happiness," Jet says mockingly, face hardening. It's uncharacteristic of the light hearted, joking Beifong to become serious, but then again, perhaps it wasn't, Jinora thinks. If it involves his mother, Jet is all business, and one can see how he won his spot on Lin's metalbending squad.

"So, my mother raised me herself," Jet continues. "_Without_ my deadbeat father's help."

"Jet!" Lin snaps, glaring at him sharply with her piercing eyes. "That's _enough_."

"No," Tenzin sighs. "The boy is right. I am a terrible father."

"Well," Jinora interrupts, attempting to alleviate the mood, "you can't be _that _bad because you raised me."

Tenzin's smile is slightly forced as he laughs, "I think that's because Lin had something to do with that."

* * *

**A/N:** Loved it? Hated it? Either way, please, please, _please_ take the time to comment and review in that little cute box below this author's note. Even anonymous reviews are better than none!

I hope you enjoyed this story. And don't worry, there's still more to come as Jinora becomes an adult.

Please review!


	2. Adulthood

**Fandom:** Avatar: Legend of Korra

**Disclaimer:** Jinora, Korra, Mako, Lin, Tenzin, Pema, and Bolin all belong to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Well, _everybody_ here belongs to them, except for Jet Beifong, who is mine.

**Story** **Title: **Transcendent Wings

**Chapter Title: **Adulthood

**Notes: **Same universe as the last chapter. Also, I put Bolin together with Jinora because honestly, Bolin's such a nice guy and I feel that the writers of LoK underrate him the entire time in Legend of Korra. Besides, it's kind of cute when you think about it. The nice guy and the romantic getting together…

Thanks for all your support!

**Warning:** If you do not enjoy blood or character death, please avoid the prompts that say Titanium, which has some blood, and Passing, which has more blood than Titanium. You can still read the story without losing any understanding of the plot, though. But if you have the stomach for it, I highly recommend you read the two.

**Chapter Summary: **Jinora's leap to adulthood.

**Chapter Quote: **"I thought you would be the one mourning at my funeral. Not that I would be attending yours."

* * *

_**Adulthood**_

**Gentleman**

Jet, whenever he picks Jinora and the others from school, always takes Jinora's hand and presses a chaste kiss to it, much to Jinora's chagrin and her female _and _male classmates' jealousy. It makes him look like her boyfriend, her much _older _boyfriend, and Jinora is fifteen, all swaying hips and luscious curves, at the age where boys are beginning to try to catch her eye.

Despite searching tirelessly, there is no one in Republic City like Jet, the polite, joking gentleman that also happens to be her ideal type. He always plays the part of a chivalrous knight in shining armor at all times, helping old ladies cross the street, saving damsels in distress, and telling women that they're beautiful.

"Why do you do that?" Jinora laughs. "Doesn't it get tiring?"

"Never," Jet chuckles. "My mom says that it makes the girls go gaga over you."

He adds as an afterthought, "And besides, I guess this is my way of atoning for my father's sins."

**Enrollment**

"I want to join the police force," Jinora remarks one day at the dinner table. Judging by her parents pursued lips and barely contained faces, Jinora already knows that they don't approve. But looking at Lin, there is a mixture of pride, worry, and guilt marring her hero's beautiful face.

Lin takes Jinora's hand in her own, squeezing it. "It's a tiring life," she whispers softly.

"I'm a tireless girl," Jinora defiantly shoots back.

"But why?" Lin's eyes glitter, her bottom lip trembling incredulously. "Why do you want to have this parasitic life? I never wanted you to… I…"

It is the only time that Lin seems to be at a loss for words, face contorting into such a pained expression that almost makes Jinora want to become an air nomad again.

Almost. But not quite.

Jinora forces herself to look at the table, aware of the tension in her real mother's shoulders. "Because I want to be just like you."

With that, Pema promptly stands up and storms out, but Tenzin stays, his face in an ironic smile.

"You've made her your daughter, Lin," he chuckles, an arm wrapping around Lin's slim waist. "Jinora…"

She looks up into her father's face, seeing only a rare twinkle of fierce pride in his eyes.

"I approve," he murmurs, bringing Jinora and Lin into a three-way group hug.

**Never**

The police training is tough as nails, screaming Lin with every arduous work out and exercise. Some recruits cannot take the heat and drop out, but every time someone asks Jinora, the only female rookie, if she ever wants to quit, Jinora just glances at Toph's statue and replaces the head with Lin's before replying.

"_Never."_

**Excel**

Jinora strives to excel with every isometric, as if she has something to prove. The other recruits scoff that she doesn't have to try since she's the first airbender on the squad; however, the look she gives them shuts them up.

She has to excel. Because that's what Lin would want. Because Jinora wants Lin to feel bursting pride whenever the Chief of Police so much as glances at her.

With that determination, it is to no one's surprise to find that Jinora finds a place on Lin's A-team after the training.

When Lin tells her of this, she places a surprisingly gentle hand on Jinora's shoulder. "You did good kid," she tartly compliments before leaving the station.

It's only at the Air Temple where Lin is able to squeeze the living daylights out of Jinora. And Jinora loves every minutes of it.

**Hell**

It was supposed to be a normal patrol, a normal perimeter scan, but it wasn't. It goes to hell the moment Lin's left foot touches the road. Mines in the ground immediately burst, blazing up like a flare into the sky to consume everything. Jinora vaguely feels a familiar push of earth, landing on her butt far away from the danger along with her fellow squad members.

But Lin…

Snapping her eyes open, Jinora struggles like a demon against the arms of her comrades. "Chief! Chief! Chief!" she shrieks in desperation, watching as the smoke trails up in a funeral pyre. Jinora clenches her hands into fists, biting her lip. The acrid scent of burning metal and flesh drifts on the air, permeating through Jinora's senses to her heart.

"No…" she whispers. "Not Lin."

"What do you mean not Lin? I'm _still_ here." Lin's cool voice replies from behind the squad, and upon turning back, Jinora sees she has the would-be terrorist in tow. "It'll take a lot more than a bit of fire to kill me, lieutenant."

Lin gives her a rare smile on duty before earthbending the man into a makeshift prison. Jinora feels a flush of relief on the way back to the station because she doesn't need to die to be introduced to hell. Her hell doesn't have eternal flames or suffering; her Hell is a life where Lin isn't in it.

**Despair**

Jinora knows that Lin would move heaven and earth in order to protect Republic City, its people, her officers, and her family. So when she and a few other officers get kidnapped on one assignment, none of them give into despair.

Whatever happens, they know Lin will come for them: no matter what.

And she doesn't disappoint, Lin never does. She literally moves the entire earth to bust them out, tearing the cage into bits and catching the criminals in seconds. It's only outside, with newfound freedom blazing through her system, when Jinora sees her chief badge off that she knows something desperately wrong has happened.

**Deal**

"Oh? You wish to know why Lin has resigned?" Tarrlok enquires, calmly returning the glares of all the police officers. "It was simple really. Lin couldn't retrieve you without going against the laws of our city and getting arrested. In exchange for rescuing you and not pursuing the charges, Lin had to resign and swear never to reenter the police force again."

Jinora personally smacks Tarrlok across the face, sending him flying to the nearby wall where Jet promptly seizes him and smiles.

"Hello Tarrlok," he states with a leery grin. "I hope you enjoy the hospital."

It's only when Lin bursts in on the scene and demands Tarrlok be released does Jet and the other officers stop pummeling the representative to pieces. It's a pity really; a couple more blows might have been enough to "accidentally" kill him.

**Anger**

Jinora, sweet-tempered Jinora, begins to show her horns the day that Lin leaves the force, but it's okay, since every other police officer is too. Even Jet, who acts like his mother can almost do no wrong.

"Chief! What the hell were you thinking?" an officer who was captured along with Jinora demands, pushing his way to the front of the throng. "How could you- How could you take Tarrlok's deal like that?"

"Chief! You can't go!"

"Chief! Why?"

"Chief!"

The crowd surges forward toward Lin, incredulous glares on all of them. Their hero quitting half way through? Unheard of! Preposterous!

Jet mutters something about trying to get Lin to stay in Jinora's ear, prompting Jinora to break away from the throng to set herself in front of the only exit. The look on Lin's face is heartbreaking, shaking Jinora's unshakeable resolve. She goes through with it anyway because Jinora would do anything just to make Lin stay.

"You shouldn't have resigned to save us!" Jinora screeches at Lin, pounding her hero's with half-hearted fists, tears falling down her rosy cheeks. "The only person who matters here is you!"

She doesn't expect Lin to remain silent, for strong stoic Lin to say nothing to all the upset individuals. But she does. Instead of arguing assertively and fighting her way out of the situation, Lin just pulls her into a tight hug and waits for the crowd to simmer down before she says two words none of them expected to hear.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "But it was something I had to do outside the law."

And she brushes past Jinora to leave, departing without even saying goodbye to any of them.

Jinora believes that Lin wouldn't be able to without bursting into tears.

**Silence**

Even after Saikhan takes Lin's torch, no one moves on from the fact that Lin is gone. The police station is emboldened in an eerie stillness that doesn't suit it. The Triads, even, seem to have gone silent, as if in direct protest of Tarrlok's decision.

When Tenzin tries to comfort Jinora, it's to no avail. Even when Lin comes over for dinner one evening, Jinora just makes it a point to be "on patrol" because she cannot forgive Lin for valuing her and the others over her duty toward Republic City.

**Afraid**

"I was afraid I would lose you," Lin whispers to an apparently sleeping Jinora. She strokes Jinora's brown hair tenderly, brushing the seventeen year old's brow with Lin's slender fingers. "All of you. And I couldn't do that. Not to you. Not to Tenzin. Because, Jinora, you and Jet and the other officers will always mean more than Republic City will ever be."

When Lin shuts the door behind her, Jinora sits up in bed and struggles not to cry.

**Normalcy**

The police officers pretend that Lin will still walk through the doorway, at 7:00 a.m. sharp, and bark at them to get back to their duties. As everyone bustles around in a hubbub of activity, in preparation for her "arrival," the air of routine is back in the air. But when Saikhan steps into the room, it is lost as everyone just glances at each other, almost at a loss of what to do now.

And silence returns as soon as normality is lost.

**Danger**

A new triad has broken the silence rule that has been in place. Thus, Saikhan mobilizes the police force and readies them for battle, but upon reaching the site, the police officers are in shock.

The new triad has guns.

As they all scatter, ducking for cover to avoid the storm of bullets, Jinora and the rest of the A-team don't know what to do. They all look to Saikhan for instruction yet even he seems at a loss. It's beginning to look desperate as the casualties begin to pile up, more for the police than the triad.

"What are you all doing?" a familiar, metallically sharp female voice demands. They see Lin, dresses in casual attire, her _black _hair out of its usual bun, behind them carrying a bag of groceries. In that moment, Jinora couldn't find her more than beautiful, a living spirit coming to dwell temporarily for the living.

It's only then that every police officer feels safe, even when danger is fast approaching.

**Magnet**

Lin's presence is magnetic, both figuratively and literally. She immediately begins to bark orders that every single officer gets down to more speedily than they've been doing things the past two weeks Lin was gone. Lin draws them in with an easy charisma, inspiring them in a way that no one else could.

Then again, she also makes a huge magnet.

In an instant, the bullets, shrapnel, and guns are snatched from the assailants' hands from the magnetic pull, clanging deafeningly

"Hey mom, why aren't the earthbenders affected by the magnet?" Jet glances at her, expecting a complete answer.

"I reversed the polarity of your metal armor," Lin states, bored, despite knowingly performing the impossible.

"Looks like someone's been practicing," Jet mutters under his breath, taking out his handcuffs and slowly begins to approach the thugs.

For a moment, it looks as if the police have won, but then the triad leader begins to bark orders and the firefight (renewed with platinum guns) continues.

**Titanium**

Jinora screams as a stray bullet pierces her arm, pain blossoming from her injury. She looks up in time to see a triad attempting to finish her off in order to punch a huge gust of air to blast her would-be attacker off his feet. As another approaches her, Jinora feels desperation clawing her system and closes her eyes, thinking it's the end.

She hears a fractured yell, a scream of pain, and three rounds echoing in the distance. Opening her eyes, she sees no new bursts of blood on her, and looking up, Jinora notices Lin standing over the triad member, the scent of blood clinging to her porcelain skin, her right hand clutching her left side. Lin winces slightly but doesn't fall; her eyes instead scanning around for anymore terrorists to take down.

Their eyes meet for a moment, causing Lin to smile, wink, and proceed to launch herself further into the fight.

**Dance**

Once Lin manages to get ahold of metal cables, it's all over for the triad. Her fiery tango knocks the thugs down left, right, and center with each step, twirl, and jump. She is the untouchable queen of the battlefield, where no one can escape her web of attack.

"And you wonder why she ever need us," Jet comments, amused, by Jinora's side. She fires a blast of wind to sweep more assailants off their feet while Jet grounds a few enemies. Permanently. They share a look for a moment before they resume their own personal waltz.

"I know," Jinora chortles, resting a hand on his shoulder. "But I guess she's averse to dancing by herself."

**Recovery**

"Is everyone all right?" Lin queries vehemently at Saikhan, who seems relieved that Lin has taken charge. She surveys the damage critically, her green eyes sharp as they sweep around the razed area for anything unusual.

"Just a few cuts, chief," he responds. "All of those in critical have already been transferred to the hospital."

She nods, turning away from the wreckage. "Good. Ensure that all the injured not in medical care are sent to the hospital." Lin moves to depart, but Jinora grabs her arm, brown eyes sparkling with fear.

"Did you get injured? I thought…when you protected me the guy got your side." Jinora asks quietly, "Are _you_ all right?

Lin's face twitches into a smile. "Of course. It was just a scratch. I should be fine in a few days."

But when Tenzin comes on the scene, before Lin can say anything, he grabs her and hauls her bridal style down to the hospital.

Jinora can hear her protests even from down the street.

"What are you doing? What's your problem? You're being so overprotective! I'm perfectly fine!" Lin huffs, folding her arms. "_And_ I have to buy more groceries," she adds grumpily.

"I think that's the least of your worries," Tenzin murmurs, gesturing to her side.

Lin rolls her eyes, pressing her face into Tenzin's shoulder. "Just get me to the hospital before I metalbend you to the moon and back."

**Scratch**

Just a scratch turns out to be three bullet wounds to the side and a diagonal laceration that stretches from Lin's left shoulder down to her back. The few days that it should take for her to recover are actually a week. Nestled quietly in the pillows, Lin looks more delicate in her overlarge white hospital garb, like a porcelain doll Jinora used to break with a single touch. Jinora and Jet stay by the comatose Lin's bedside for seven days, clutching her hand and checking her pulse every so often to make sure she's alive. They make sure never to leave her alone for more than fifteen minutes. Even when visiting hours are over, they just "leave" and bend themselves back to Lin's hospital room before bending themselves out once the hospital begins a new day.

It's a relentless process, a silent vigil filled with unspoken fears and They continue in this fashion until Tenzin kicks them out, going on about how Lin wouldn't want to see them like this.

As Jinora and Jet wait patiently outside Lin's hospital room, they hear the soft murmurings from the inside. Peeking in the crack of the door, the two of them see Tenzin clutching Lin to his chest, running his hands through her long ebony hair. His tears drop onto Lin's cheek, trailing down to stain her white hospital gown.

She reaches up to stroke his face, wiping the remnants of his tears away. Her smile is sad, her wan skin revealing how closely she had brushed with death.

"Don't cry," Lin chuckles softly. "I'm still here."

"I thought I was going to lose you," Tenzin sobs into her shoulder. "You brush off death like it's nothing, but you never think about the consequences of it."

"How so?" she whispers, drawing herself even closer to his chest.

"_You never think about what I'm going to do without you."_

Jet and Jinora both exchange a glance.

They also never thought about what they would do without Lin in their lives.

**Newspaper**

The newspapers herald Lin as a hero, and citizens - nonbenders, benders, triad members, police, and more- all call for Lin to be reinstated as Chief of Police. To no one's surprise, Tarrlok does it immediately and swears never to try a stunt like that again. Jinora smirks when she hears that comment. Apparently, the beating the police force gave him is enough of a warning.

It was a pity, though, Jinora sighs. If Tarrlok hadn't sworn to that, she and the rest of the boys would have rolled up to City Hall and beat the crap out of the three ponytailed man again, and she was _really _looking forward to doing that again.

**Rock**

Lin is the police force and Republic City's rock. She is steady like the earth, always there whenever duty calls, but after the new triad incident, Lin begins to train Jet and Jinora in case she's ever gone.

"I can't be a rock forever," she laughs when they complain.

_No. You can._ Jinora bites those words back. _If anyone can, it's you._

**Comfort**

Lin is the first person Jinora goes to whenever she has boy troubles. She is twenty now - young, beautiful, successful – everything any sane guy would want. Jinora knows Lin understands which boy is just planning to play her, which boy actually has an interest, and which boy will be her soul mate for life. She is never wrong, and Jinora learns the hard way when she ignores Lin's advice to not date this one guy.

So when the boy she thought she would marry breaks up with her, it's Lin who she cries her heart out to. Lin lets her sob it out before pointing to a boy she's known since childhood who was waiting outside of Lin's apartment window, as if he knew Jinora would be there. He has roses in tow, looking slightly nervous and constantly shifting his gaze up to the window.

Looking for Lin, Jinora supposes. For what, she doesn't know.

But as their eyes meet for a split second, Bolin's face is like a sunburst, smile stretching to cover his entire face. He waves frantically in a universal gesture of come on down.

Smiling, Jinora crushes Lin in a hug, thanks her, and races out into the waiting arms of Bolin. One hug and Jinora knows that she belongs in those arms.

**Family**

"I was thinking of having a family," Jinora mentions to Lin one morning at the station, six months after that incident. "With Bolin."

Lin looks up from her piles of paperwork, a smile playing at her lips. "Did he propose to you?"

Jinora can barely conceal her smile and squeal of excitement when she shows Lin her glittering diamond ring on her left finger. She is so enthusiastic that she doesn't see the wistful look on Lin as the chief pulls out a green betrothal necklace from a concealed compartment in her armor.

"That's good. I want you to be happy," Lin murmurs as she hugs Jinora tightly, her eyes never breaking away from the black meteorite stone of her necklace. "I want you to finally have the complete family I never could."

**End**

Jinora knows that Lin cannot remain Chief of Police forever, but she thinks that the Chief of Police would somehow manage to ensure that her relationship withstands the test of time. All of their "ends" are really just new beginnings, new lives waiting in the distance. She can't wait to tell Lin she's pregnant after the wedding; she knows Lin will be ecstatic at the news, at the end of a new chapter and a beginning of a new one.

**Wedding**

Jinora, playing the blushing bride for once, is congratulated by her mother immediately after the ceremony, the first time they spoke in months. With Jinora's tiring schedule, the wedding plans, and Bolin, Jinora hasn't been able to get around to hustling over to her parents for dinner lately.

"I'm proud of you," Pema whispers, pulling Jinora to her chest. "I love you, and I wish for your happiness."

When Jinora and Bolin run into Lin, the Chief of Police just gives them a smile and doesn't even need to use words to tell them what she's thinking.

They both know and love her for it.

**Passing**

They don't expect a revolutionary group to attack them during Jinora's wedding. Lin, Tenzin, Mako, Korra, Katara, and Jet immediately spring into action, providing enough protection for the guests to exist safely. There are too many of them, overwhelming the small fighting force of six in a swarm. They are just about to make a hasty retreat, but Pema trips on the mad rush to get out. The revolutionaries immediately zero in on her, guns blazing a steady stream of platinum bullets.

Without hesitating, Lin, bloody and battered, waves a hand to diverge the incoming projectiles, balling the platinum into a makeshift sphere she embeds into the ground. Grabbing Pema with a metal cable, Lin looks away from the battlefield to set the woman a safe distance away from the fighting.

Saving Pema is the worst decision Lin could ever make.

She couldn't sense the grenade speeding toward her with her seismic sense, she couldn't leap out of the way, and her metal cables couldn't completely deflect the grenade, reflecting them into an even more vital area. And none of the other fighters can help her in time.

Jinora and the rest of the wedding guests can only watch as the grenade lands a few feet away from Lin, and it seems that the entire world has went to hell as the grenade detonates. The assailants fire blindly into the fiery dust, each bullet followed by a quiet, pained groan. When the dust clears, Lin's perfect skin is torn, her metal armor singed, and a steady stream of blood trickling down from everywhere. Swaying slightly, another bullet tears into her midsection, causing more blood to drip down from the corner of her mouth. She collapses in a heap, the child of earth's blood finally mingling with the element she held so dear.

Blood. Blood. Blood.

It just keeps coming. It never stops.

Jinora fights an urge to vomit at the sight of the broken Lin.

Tenzin and Jet's combined rage cause their respective elements to go out of control, defeating every single assailant violently without the slightest hint of remorse in a fury that would make even Sozin cower in fear.

Tenzin is by her side in a heartbeat, running a finger down her cheek. Lin gives him a weak smile, touching his face, whispering, "It'll be all right."

"Mother!" Tenzin calls desperately. "Please! Can you-"

Lin's fingers touch his lip, effectively silencing him. Her rueful smile has a quiet acceptance of her fate, a tendril of hope nowhere to be seen. She almost seems peaceful, no longer at odds with the world, Pema, or even herself.

Death has a funny way of doing that to people.

There are no words that are exchanged in that moment, but their knowing look between the two of them transcends the need for such useless chatter, saying what both of them are forbidden to say aloud.

Tenzin squeezes Lin comfortingly, burying his chin in the crook of her neck. _I love you._

She smiles_. I do too._

Tenzin's eyes glitter. Before he can do anything to prevent it, the waterworks begin to start.

"Don't cry," Lin whispers, her eyes blinking quickly to fight back the tears, her teeth digging into her lower lip. She reaches up to brush away the three tears descending from Tenzin's face, her eyes fluttering as she rasps weakly, "I hate it when you cry, so don't cry…when I'm….gone."

Then she's gone. Just like that. The best Chief of Police Republic City would ever know, the best person Jinora would ever know, is gone in an instant. The candle has been blown out, and the flame's never coming back.

**Mourners**

Lin's funeral is attended by Republic City in its entirety: from wealthy businessmen, like Hiroshi Sato, to the homeless. The onlookers walk by the closed ebony casket emblazoned with the golden police logo, blinking back tears or perhaps biting their pursued lips as they reflect on the life of a woman who gave up so much for this city.

It's an ostentatious ceremony, something Lin would have never wanted for herself. The proceeding is bittersweet because it seems all these people realize the value of Lin when she's gone.

Lost and insecure, Jinora honestly doesn't know where to go from here, gazing blankly at the casket, half-expecting to hear a shout and banging on the coffin, to open up the casket to see a battered but a very much alive Lin. She retreats to the back of the room, unable to take the pain and emptiness anymore.

Every comforting word hurts. Everything hurts. Everything is wrong. So wrong.

She feels a warm hand on her shoulder. Turning she sees former Firelord Zuko, the same Firelord Jinora has heard so much about from Lin in her bedtime stories, clad in black robes and a mournful expression.

He gives her an encouraging smile, golden eyes twinkling. "Lin told me a lot about you. Talked about you like you were her own kid."

"She told me a lot about you too," Jinora says with a watery grin. "About the Blue Spirit. About the Agni Kai. About…everything from the war to reconstruction and back again."

"Did she?" Zuko chuckles. "Well, her, Avatar Aang, and I _did _get along famously." He touches Jinora's cheek, staring her straight in the eyes.

"She would have been proud of you, Jinora," he states simply. "So don't continue to beat yourself up over this. She wouldn't want that."

Nodding, Zuko links arms with Mai and turns away. He pushes his way through the swarm of mourners, coming up to the coffin with his wife.

"May I open the casket?" he asks Jet, who hesitates, looking uncomfortable.

"You can," he replies at last. "Just brace yourself. There's a reason why the coffin's closed."

The aged man lifts up the black coffin, wincing as he sees the burned sides, the gaping wounds, and the bits of shrapnel in her skin that not even Katara could get out. But his expression softens as he sees Lin's last peaceful smile. Zuko tenderly brushes Lin's face, his eyes reflecting the happy moments between the two of them, the happy moments Jinora can recall in a heartbeat.

"I thought you would be the one mourning at my funeral," he murmurs, running his fingers through Lin's black locks. "Not that I would be attending yours."

It takes all of Jinora's self-control to stop herself from bawling her eyes out.

**Speech**

"Even my mother admits she wasn't the easiest woman to be around," Jet begins, closing his red-rimmed eyes. "But she was _the_ person everyone wanted to be around. She had this sort of charisma, this glow, surrounding her with every step, intoxicating like honeysuckles in the evening air, and drew people in with an addicting bitter honey. My mother described herself as "cold, ruthless, and tough as nails;" I describe her as loving, doting, and everything a child could ask for. She was the type of person who would never give up and never run away from her problems. Like an earthbender, my mother would face problems head on, unless it was in the kitchen."

A few laughs. Jinora nearly manages to smile at the memory before she remembers there won't be any more droll moments. Bolin just squeezes her shoulder and rests her chin on his shoulder. She takes comfort in her husband's warmth, listening as Jet's intonation echoes in her head.

"Then," Jet says with a wry smile, "she would be the first to make a hasty retreat."

"She probably didn't really want to go," Jet continues, opening his eyes to fix the audience with Lin's familiar stoic stare. "Not at Jinora's wedding. Not now. Not ever. But she probably didn't mind going protecting someone near and dear to her. It just added another stone in her dream to build a peaceful, equal city. I hope all of you in attendance help me and the rest of the police force try to make the bridge between my mother's dream and reality. Because, we _will_ build this bridge, one stone at a time."

"But moving on doesn't mean I'll miss her. There's nothing about my mother I won't miss. I'll miss her causing a hurried, worried flurry of activity every morning down at the station because everyone's afraid of getting their asses' kicked. I'll miss her gentle smiles and infecting laughs. I'll miss how she always looked she was having the time of her life playing the piano with Jinora. I'll miss how my mother would sometimes get into a huge argument with me and manage to make me forget all about it five minutes later with a hug and a kiss. I'll miss how she used to tuck me in at bedtime, kiss me goodnight, and weave countless stories of her rambunctious childhood with the last Avatar."

"I'll miss my mother dearly, and I know all hardships last for never. But between you and me," Jet laughs, leaning in toward the guests as if sharing some covert secret, "I'll treasure her memory forever."

There is a distant round of applause, but Jinora can barely hear it. All she hears the faint whisper of Lin's lively voice calling her back to the past.

**Memories**

_I want you to be happy._

She's a child again, unmarred by sorrow and only thinking about the next time Lin can come over.

"_I think you're perfect Jinora," _Lin laughs, picking Jinora up and spinning her around. "_In every single way." _

"_I'll __**always**__ love you."_Lin pokes Jinora in the chest. "_But that doesn't mean that'll stop me from incarcerating you for life if I hear you get thrown into the principal's office for getting upset over some stupid girls gossiping about me."_

"_I will always protect you,"_ Lin whispers every single night, planting a kiss in Jinora's messy hair. _"Nothing will ever change that."_

"_You're like the daughter I never had,"_ Lin chuckles, ruffling Jinora's hair.

"_I want you to be happy_," an older weary Lin states, the sides of her mouth curling into a smile, lifting Jinora's chin so brown eyes meet green. _"So don't dwell on me too much, all right?"_

It's when the ghost or spirit of Lin says those words that Jinora allows herself a good cry, feeling Lin's hands heal Jinora's fractured heart even though her time is done.

**Wings**

With Lin, Jinora felt like she could fly forever and ever. With Lin, she could never fly too close to the sea or sun.

But without her, Jinora has to find a way to remain in that happy medium for flight. She can and she will.

Lin gave her the wings to fly. It's time that Jinora took those wings and transcended all expectations with them.

**Deal**

"So…" Jet muses a week after the funeral. "How does joint leadership as Police Chief suit you?"

Behind the newspaper she's immersed in, Jinora's face curls into a grin. "It suits me fine," she laughs. "But, not all police chiefs after us will have the same amicable relationship, so that might not be advisable."

"What do you propose then?"

"I'll be the Vice Chief," Jinora states blandly, glancing back down at her newspaper. "You can be Chief, on one condition."

"What?" Jet appears to be genuinely intrigued.

"I want Lin's armor."

Jet pauses for a moment, letting the words sink in, before he nods, glancing back to the paperwork on his desk.

"Of course you can have it, Jinora," he says gently, placing his hands on top of hers. "I think mom would have wanted that too."

* * *

**A/N:** I feel bad killing Lin off, but I kind of had to in order for Jinora and everyone else to develop further. Lin, in this story, was everyone's rock, so when the rock disappears, you have to be able to move on and find a replacement. The next prompt centers on Jinora stepping up to the plate to take care of her child with Bolin and how the past continues to haunt her.

You know the little box underneath this author's note? Write stuff about your feelings of the story in it and press the post review button and good things will happen to you. You don't even have to log into your account (though that would be nice).

Thanks for all your support, people who have read this story, especially people who have done the procedure above. I wish eternal life and happiness to TheDreamChaser, Lin Is Amazing, ziver911, Dreamhare, Teen Warrior, emcateer90, Leia Rayn Storm, muggle-toph, Rise of Anarchy for their support and all those wonderful guests who took the time to make those reviews.

Thanks!


	3. Motherhood

**Fandom: **Avatar: Legend of Korra

**Disclaimer: **Jinora, Korra, Mako, Lin, Tenzin, Pema, and Bolin all belong to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Well, everybody here belongs to them, except for Jet Beifong, who is mine.

**Story Title: **Transcendent Wings

**Chapter Title: **Motherhood

**Notes: **Please forgive me for the long hiatus. Stupid classes. My apologies.

Thank you for sticking with me!

**Chapter Summary: **Jinora's journey into motherhood.

**Chapter Quote: **"Not as bad honey. Lin, I tell you, is _much_ worse."

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

_**Motherhood**_

**Lies**

Jinora is a good liar- even when she doesn't want to be. She can swear on Avatar Aang that she's moved on from Lin's death and probably get away with telling that white lie to Wang Shi Tong himself.

But Jinora knows that her grief is like a passing wave, lurking underneath the surface. While her loss has no longer become the center of her life, the littlest things can sometimes set her off. The slightest reminder tears her to pieces, and the person she would have run to isn't here anymore.

Only Bolin's comforting arms can cease the hole inside of her heart and bring a smile back to her face.

**Lemon Tea**

Waves of nausea wrack Jinora as she shuffles another stack of papers into the complete pile. Struggling not to succumb to morning sickness, Jinora heads off to the toilet for the third time in an hour to practically let the entire contents of her stomach out.

"Stupid…blasted…thing…" Jinora mutters between heaves. "Never…want…again…"

Groaning, Jinora wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, vaguely wishing that Lin was here with a helping hand and a kind word. She can practically sense Lin behind her, smiling amusedly as she listens to all of Jinora's complaints.

She feels a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she is greeted with the sight of Jet carrying another cup of lemon tea. She almost wants to retch again when she realizes that Lin will never know about the baby and never be able to love the child like her own.

She won't come back, she scolds herself. You have to move on.

After that, she swears never to wish for Lin's presence again.

**Reminders**

"Hey, Chief!" an officer calls from the massive stacks of boxes in the station's backroom.

"It's _Vice_-Chief, lieutenant," Jinora scolds with a small smirk.

"Sorry, ma'am," he says with an apologetic grin, extricating himself from the shadows with a cardboard box in tow. "Just thought you might want to see…erm...the contents of this box before they're removed and placed in the City Archive for all to see."

Raising her eyebrow, Jinora peers into the container to discover a neat stack of letters bundled up with string. She bites her lip as she carefully unravels the knot, noticing Lin's familiar scrawl scribbled across the letters. Squinting, Jinora can barely make out the addressee.

Tenzin.

"Thanks, lieutenant," Jinora says in a cracked voice. "You can go now."

"Yes ma'am." The officer glances at her warily, eyes filled with concern. "Are you sure you don't need anything? Because I-"

"I'm sure," Jinora snaps.

He leaves her the cardboard box and her memories in peace.

**Cope**

Jinora bites her lip as she reads another edition of Forest North, a new detective-adventure story that's being published in a weekly magazine. It's odd, actually. The main character reminds her of Lin and her police chief ally, Gyatso, resembles Tenzin- beard and all.

Turns out, Tenzin was the one writing the series. Jinora caught him mailing the next installment by chance.

"Will Forest and her trusty ally ever get together?" she asks him.

"No." Tenzin closes his eyes. "Not all stories have happy endings, Jinora."

"But why can't this one? Just this once? Can't you spare your characters the same pain?"

In the end, he takes her up on her advice. Forest does have a happy ending with Gyatso, though Tenzin was sure to throw emotional curve balls at every turn.

**Shopping**

"Do we have to go shopping?" Jinora groans as Ikki drags her along the bustling streets of Republic City.

"Of course!" Ikki's smile is warm and inviting. "We need to get stuff for the baby, you know!"

Jinora can't help but smile back.

**Child**

When Jinora gives birth five months later, she is surprised to see a beautiful baby girl with green eyes and black hair. She knows at once it isn't Lin, but, all the same, can't help but think that some Spirit in the Spirit World must love her enough to give Jinora a replacement.

Needless to say, her firstborn is named after the one who changed Jinora's life.

Lin continues to live on again.

**Point**

Jinora, Bolin, and Jet make a point to always join Pema and Tenzin for dinner on the weekends in order to fill the gaping hole left by Lin's death. It's during times like this - when Jinora plays the piano, Bolin cracks a couple of jokes, and Jet makes even Pema blush - that they can pretend Lin's death doesn't mean anything.

She can pretend that their little family is complete, but everyone, except the baby Lin, knows that it really isn't.

**Stars**

"See that star up there?" Jinora points out to her gurgling baby. Lin claps her chubby hands together, reaching up to try to seize the shining beacon in the distance.

Bolin smiles, tickling the little Lin and pressing his face into her belly. "See Linny? That star is your Grandmother Lin," he whispers. "And she's always going to be watching over you."

**Bedtime**

Every single night, without fail, Bolin and Jinora wrap their arms around Lin, give her a kiss goodnight, and tuck her in without fail. Even when Jinora is on duty at the station. Even when Bolin is busy at work.

Because making this family unit as complete as it can be is what Jinora wants the most. She's living the life Lin Beifong always wanted to have, and she'll be damned to screw it up now.

**Way**

Jinora is still unused to the way she has to answer the child's every beck and call. She and Bolin are unused to the concern for the child at all times of day, even when they know Lin's safe with Pema at the Air Temple. Jinora is always afraid, always worried – with both her baby and the ungainly weight still at her stomach.

However, she can get used to the brilliant smiles _her_ little girl flashes whenever Jinora returns home from a long day at work. She can get used to the adorable makeshift words gurgling from baby Lin's mouth.

It may be different, but Jinora wouldn't have it any other way.

**Transcend**

Clad in Lin's old armor, Jinora cuts a hard authority figure in front of the Triads and the new recruits. Even in battle, when death seems to be an inch away, Jinora acts with the same fierce commanding charisma emblazoned by Lin.

Her eyes widen as one of the Triad members aim one of the new machine guns at her daughter. But before she can airbend the man to Kingdom Come, her armor vibrates, extracting itself from her, to form a protective shield around her and the baby. Clutching baby Lin protectively around her chest, she can only listen to the clanging of metal, the pounding of bullets, and the screams. As the shield retracts from around Jinora, she sees every weapon of the triad in a jumbled, unusable heap in front of her.

Lin's armor falls uselessly to the ground in front of Jinora, normal once more. But Jinora's eyes fill to the brim with tears as she sees a faint shimmer of a smiling Lin standing over her before her spirit fades away.

Perhaps Katara was right about relationships transcending lifetimes because it seems that even in death, Lin will continue to protect Jinora after all.

**Questions**

"So what was the old police chief like?" Lin inquires. She is five years old, too old to go to school and too young to be left at home by herself. Lin can be painfully honest and curious in addition a pain in the ass to work with. Fortunately, one of the officers graciously offered to take care of the toddler during Jinora's shift.

Jinora hears the officer hesitate, glancing quickly at Jinora, before carefully replying, "She was a good person. The best Chief of Police this city ever knew and the best friend anyone could ever have."

"Well, obviously not," Lin dismisses quickly, flipping her long black hair behind her. "Tenzin left her, after all. That's what Grandma Pema told me."

Jinora smashes her palms into the metal table, glaring at her daughter and the answering officer. The officer pretends to be very interested in the ceiling as Jinora rounds on her daughter.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Jinora hisses. "Just because he broke up with her doesn't mean-"

"But he **broke up** with her!" Lin insists. "He obviously didn't love her, or else he would have stayed."

Jinora traces the framed photograph on her desk, of Tenzin, Lin, Jet, Pema, Bolin, and Jinora's smiling faces forever frozen in time, and she herself smiles in the present as she notes the look on Tenzin's face when he stares at Lin.

"Sometimes duty overshadows love," Jinora whispers. "And not even two soul mates can do anything about it."

**Beautiful**

"Wow," Lin breathes, tracing the photographed Lin Beifong's scars with a reverent finger. "She's so…"

"So what?" Jinora inquires, her pen stopping in midstroke so ink clumps up on the page.

"So beautiful, like the beams of sun on a winter day," Lin replies in awe. "Makes me wonder why Grandpa ever wanted to leave her."

Jinora glances back down to her paperwork, looking slightly miffed. "He didn't," she mutters stiffly. "Haven't you been listening to what I've been telling you for these past years?"

Lin shrugs. "Not really."

Jinora just sighs, returning to her paperwork and trying not to act on the pulsating anger bubbling underneath the surface.

Lin reminds her of someone. For the life of her, Jinora just can't name who.

It takes her a few moments but Jinora is vividly reminded of her younger old self defiantly arguing with her own mother.

**Story time**

"So you knew Firelord Zuko?" Lin whispers in utter shock. "Really?"

Jinora nods her head solemnly. "He was a good man. All of your grandparents' friends were good people."

"Good like Daddy?" Lin inquires, tilting her head to glance up at Jinora with her striking jade eyes.

"Yes, like Daddy," Jinora replies, tickling Lin's belly to make her squeal in delight. "They would have loved meeting you." _Especially Lin._

**Awkward**

Tenzin spits out his tea as five year old Lin inquires, "Grandpa, do you still love Grandma Lin?"

He coughs, blushing and glancing nervously in Pema's direction. "In what way, sweetie?"

"Romantically, of course. Come on Grandpa!" Lin prods him with a rough finger. "I'm sure you still do! I mean, the way that you look at her photographs and everything and-"

"That's _enough_, Lin!" Jinora interjects, bailing her father out. "I'm sure Grandpa loves Lin in the same way Jet and I love each other."

Lin's eyes widen. "Wha- You two like-like each other?"

A vein begins to throb in Jinora's right temple. She curls her hand around her chopsticks, snapping the flimsy wood in half. "I meant," she hisses, "_platonically_."

"Oh." Lin blushes. "Sorry."

Jinora holds her head and sighs. Everyone else, including Jet and Bolin, just laugh.

**Pranks**

As the years go by, Jinora notices how independent and willful her Lin is, constantly getting into one mess or another with Jet's children. One day, Lin manages to earthbend Toph's head and replaces it with her mother's on a dare.

Upon catching her, Jinora discretely asks if Lin can change it to the first Lin's instead.

**Different**

Mako and Korra eventually get married, Jet manages to continue on the Beifong line, and Republic City's crime rate eventually dwindles to nonexistence. As the seasons pass and lines on Jinora become more pronounced, she still remembers the sterling silver memories of Lin leading her as a child.

The new Lin, her baby Lin, is a prodigious earthbender, rising to become one of the most capable members of the squad in a year. She reminds the old veterans of the first Lin, a happier, more jovial version that has the best of earth and air. But other than her appearance, leadership skills, and skill at earthbending, her attitude is a sharp contrast to the former Chief of Police.

This Lin is beautiful, desirable, and unmatched.

And she knows it, never missing an opportunity to rub it into anyone's face.

The first Lin would have never done so.

But that doesn't prevent Jinora loving her Lin in spite of that.

**Teenager**

Jinora never expected it to happen, but all of a sudden, her baby girl's a teenager. Lin is even more unbearable, going out on dates every other week, hanging out with Jet's children at the park, and playing more pranks on the police force than ever.

If Jinora didn't have to be the one cleaning up her mess, she would have thought it was hilarious.

Because she is, Jinora and half her best officers have to go around and fix whatever Lin screwed up this time.

**Realization**

"She's headstrong, thinks she's always right, has a huge chip on her shoulder, and I don't know what to do with her!" Jinora rages to her mother over tea. "You're the only one she'll actually listen to. Can you _please_ do something about her?"

Pema bites back a small laugh and fails miserably, crying hysterically. "Do you know the phrase I hope your kids put you through what I had to put up with?" she asks between gasps for breath.

Frazzled, Jinora opens her mouth to speak when realization hits her. "Oh. My. God." Jinora nearly jumps out the window in embarrassment. "Was _I _like that?"

"Not as bad, honey." Pema manages to stifle the rest of her laughter. "Lin, I tell you, is _much_ worse."

Jinora groans, slamming her hand to her forehead. "I am so sorry, Mom. For making you put up with that."

"Apology accepted." Her mother hugs Jinora before getting up. "What do you say we go try to find that little munchkin's up to now?"

**Pride**

Jinora has fierce pride in her own daughter, the same pride Lin had for her and Jet. She tries to be the same type of mother that Lin was to her, but it's a push and pull relationship, not the easy stream Lin and Jinora had. When her daughter is seventeen, she has enough.

"Don't patronize me mother!" Lin shrieks after a long talk after a guy (that Bolin and Jinora had advised her against dating) broke her heart. "I don't need your help! I don't want your help! And I don't _need _you!"

It's only when Jinora wraps her arms around Lin that her daughter casts off her own pride and begins to sob into her mother's arms.

**Wake up Call**

Jinora groans, rolling over to snuggle closer to Bolin. It's 6 o'clock in the morning, and for once, she doesn't have to go down to the station. Jinora's looking forward to spending time with her family for an entire day, languidly doing anything she pleases.

"Morning beautiful," Bolin laughs, planting a kiss on Jinora's lips. "Will it be breakfast in bed or-"

He's cut off by a fierce heavy metal beat, causing the house to tremble and shake considerably. Both of them spring to their feet and storm down the hallway, down to a familiar bedroom next door.

"Turn your bleeding Sato-Pod DOWN Lin!" Jinora and Bolin both exclaim, royally pissed.

"Sorry!" she just laughs, barely heard over the music. "I can't hear you!"

Bolin mutters something about how he was never like that to Mako as a kid. Jinora just smiles.

"Kids will be kids."

**Tea**

"I hate tea," Lin mutters underneath her breath. "Don't know how you can stand it." She sips the hot beverage anyway without much of a fuss.

"A wise old man once said there is nothing more relaxing than a cup of tea," Jinora evenly replies.

"Did Uncle Iroh say that?" Lin raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know he could say anything without the word honor in it."

"That's _Firelord_ Iroh to you, young lady," she chastises good naturedly. "And no, this was Great granduncle Iroh."

"Didn't he die before you were born?"

Jinora smiles. "A very important person once told me that as a bedtime story. One night it was all about the tea adventures the Dragon of the West had."

Lin lets out a haughty sort of snort, but her eyes twinkle mischievously. "No wonder it was a bedtime story. It would have put even _me _to sleep."

**Earth**

Jinora has filled up the holes left by Lin with dirt filled with love, hope, and strength. Her shaken up world is nothing but earth once again.

It doesn't mean she's forgotten Lin. It means she did what Lin wanted and continued on with her life.

**Death**

Pema and Tenzin die peacefully in each other's arms, smiles on their faces.

Mako and Korra die next, one after the other, as if they have gone to find their partner in the place beyond.

Jet and his wife go too, and Jet is a gentleman to the last, politely making small talk and intense discussions with anyone who visits him.

Bolin passes away tranquilly, a joke on his lips before he goes to join his brother and family in the Spirit World. Jinora frowns from her bed in a nursing home; she is a hundred and ten now, too old to be left alone and so old that she is alone. From the days of Lin Beifong, she, Ikki, and Meelo are the last ones left.

Everyone else is dead.

Lin, the new Chief of Police, sometimes visits her mother and other relatives on weekends, talking about all the stupid pranks kids are thinking up with a smile. It's good to see Lin anchored like this, living up to her legacy with renewed gusto every time she walks into her mother's room.

Lin is by her mother's side when Jinora is near death. She is discussing how Lin Beifong was the best mother she could ever have.

"She would have hated to see me cry at her funeral," Jinora says with a smile. "She wanted me to be happy."

Her brown eyes turn to meet Lin's green gaze. "I want you to be happy, even when I'm gone."

"I will be, mom," Lin murmurs, hugging her tightly and pressing her lips to Jinora's brow. "Just for you."

Pleased, Jinora closes her eyes tiredly. She is old, so old, and has lived life to the fullest, the life that Lin Beifong could never lead. In the distance, she can hear Lin's laughter, Jet's polite discussions, and her father's delight. They're all calling her, and she can practically see Lin's outstretched hand.

Jinora smiles, reaching up to take it.

When Lin sees her mother's still, smiling face, she knows that her mother is finally at peace.

Flying away on those transcendent wings.

* * *

Thank you everyone who reviewed this story! I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you very much for sticking with me after all this time. Again, I apologize with the delay in the update.

If it's not too much, just type in your constructive criciticism, comments, or concerns into that little box below and hit the post review button!

Special thanks to Lunar Kasumi, Midnight72955, PlumPocky, Grey LaReine, Amy Sorel, Petal's Tear, YourDreamer138,TheDreamChaser, Lin Is Amazing, ziver911, Dreamhare, Teen Warrior, emcateer90, Leia Rayn Storm, muggle-toph, Rise of Anarchy and all those wonderful guests who took the time to make those reviews for their support.

I hope you all can fly away on your own transcendent wings.


End file.
